Google Street View: Explore Mt. Everest Region From Your Desk

Let Google be your virtual sherpa on a trip through Khumbu region.

ByABC News
March 12, 2015, 3:40 AM
Apa Sherpa poses on the summit of Mount Everest with a memorial to mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary in an undated handout image.
Apa Sherpa poses on the summit of Mount Everest with a memorial to mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary in an undated handout image.
Apa Sherpa Foundation

— -- Need a vacation in some remote locale? Google is offering the next best thing.

Working with Apa Sherpa, who has climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest 21 times, Google Earth Outreach and the Nepalese nonprofit group Story Cycle went on a 10-day journey through the Khumbu region to document the area the Sherpa people have called home for centuries.

Beginning today, virtual vacationers accessing Google Maps will be able to walk gorgeous hiking trails and visit places important to the Sherpa community, including monasteries, schools, clinics and guesthouses.

PHOTO: Phortse Thakiri Chholing Gomba, Monastery, Nepal appears on Google Maps with images created by Apa Sherpa, Google Earth Outreach, and the nonprofit organization Story Cycle in 2014.
Phortse Thakiri Chholing Gomba, Monastery, Nepal appears on Google Maps with images created by Apa Sherpa, Google Earth Outreach, and the nonprofit organization Story Cycle in 2014.

Expect to see some yaks along the way, too.

"My hope is that when people see this imagery online, they’ll have a deeper understanding of the region and the Sherpa people that live there," Apa Sherpa said in a blog post. "The region has much more to offer than just the mountain."